The tall and thin soldier withdrew his gaze from the carriage entering the city and stepped towards the remaining carriages behind, preparing to continue the inspection.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped, swiftly turned his head, and looked at the gray-clothed man’s carriage. He eyed the deep ruts left by the wheels with suspicion, muttering to himself, "
If they’re only transporting cloth and cotton, why is the carriage so heavy? And those two coachmen look quite spirited, but their skills are a bit too poor; they’re too heavy-handed and even beat the horses until they bled. The clothes they wear and the whips they hold are all new, and even though one coachman is enough for a carriage, they use two instead. It seems they are really wealthy... Stop!"
"Stop!" The tall and thin soldier realized something, shouted quickly, and called to his companions at the city gate, "Block them!"
His companion heard and became serious, not hesitating to "swish" and draw his weapon, blocking the carriage that was about to reach the city gate.
The two coachmen driving the carriage quickly pulled the reins to stop the horses and frowned at the man in gray who was in charge.
The man in the gray clothes’ expression changed slightly before he quickly jumped off the carriage, putting on a smile as he approached the tall and thin soldier.
"Sir, sir, what’s the problem? Why did you suddenly stop us? Is there something we’ve done wrong?"
The tall and thin soldier, keeping a meter distance, said with suspicion, "I think there’s something wrong with your carriage."
"The carriage? What’s wrong with the carriage?" the man in charge said blankly, "Our carriage is the same as everyone else’s."
"From the outside, it does look the same, but why does it leave such deep ruts when it’s loaded only with cloth and cotton?" The tall and thin soldier pointed to the indentation and questioned.
"Well..." The man in charge scratched his head, "Maybe we have too much cargo. Sir, you saw it earlier too, boxes are stacked one on top of the other inside the carriage. A single box might be light, but combined, it becomes heavy."
"Then what’s with the coachmen?" The tall and thin soldier continued to ask.
"The coachmen, what about them?"
"The clothes are new, the whips are new, which I won’t mention, but why do their driving skills seem new too? And having two coachmen for one carriage is a bit extravagant, isn’t it?"
"This—" The man’s facial muscles twitched as he said with a pained expression, "Sir, you have to understand, actually, only one of the coachmen is mine; the other is just helping a friend in the city. Their skills are indeed lacking because they were originally farmers from the village."
"Then why hire them?"
"Because they’re cheap," the man in charge said helplessly, "Their skills may not be great, but they only ask for a third of the normal coachman’s wage, so I put up with it. As for their clothes and whips, those are indeed newly provided. I hoped they’d appreciate the gesture and work well without leaving. It’s hard to find coachmen this affordable."
The tall and thin soldier didn’t dismiss his suspicion after hearing the man in charge’s explanation. He frowned, thought for a moment, and then waved to his companion blocking the carriage, "You guys, check the carriage again and see if there’s anything strange."
"Alright." His companion nodded, and two soldiers jumped onto the carriage, driving the people off, to start a second inspection.
The man in charge watched, his expression somewhat anxious, but he did not dare to speak, only waiting patiently for the inspection to finish.
After a full three minutes, the two soldiers who entered the carriage jumped down and shook their heads at the tall and thin soldier, "Captain Falls, there’s nothing strange; the carriage is indeed full of cloth and cotton."
The man in charge looked at the tall and thin man called Falls, spread his hands, and said, "You see, sir, my carriage is indeed normal. Please let me into the city, I really need to deliver the goods promptly." Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Falls frowned deeply and said nothing, feeling there was still something missing.
The man in charge observed Falls’ expression, hesitated, then quietly approached and produced a sizable money bag, offering it to Falls, "Sir, it’s a small token from me. Could we let this matter pass?"
Falls did not accept it. He stepped back, leaving the man in charge’s hand holding the money bag hanging in mid-air, and looked at him sternly, "You must be wealthy?"
"No, no, it’s just a small amount."
"I ask you, if you don’t deliver goods on time, how much will you lose?"
"Ten..." The man in charge swallowed, not knowing Falls’ intent, "Fifteen silver coins."
"And now, how much is in this money bag you’re handing me?"
"Well..." The man in charge’s expression froze.
Before the man in charge could answer, Falls grabbed it, opened it, looked inside, and sneered, "Ten silver coins."
"Interesting!" Falls said, "You are generous indeed! To avoid compensating fifteen silver coins, you’re willing to offer ten. Indeed, fifteen silver coins are more than ten, but those fifteen are not necessarily payable. If I still trust your carriage has no issue and let it enter the city, then I’d be a fool."
"I..." The man in charge stood there, at a loss for words, as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.
Falls ignored him, placing a hand on the sword at his waist and looking at his companions blocking the carriage. Pondering, he said, "Pete, Ralph, you two check under the carriage; I suspect they have hidden items, either Silver Wood products or finished fine iron tools."
Both of these are precious and heavy, fully deserving of the word valuable, with a high tax, often found being smuggled to evade taxes.
"Understood, Captain." The named soldiers hesitated not a bit and nodded before crawling under the carriage.
Shortly, Pete, the brown-haired soldier, emerged, eyes wide, with a look of shock mixed with fear and excitement.
"Pete, are there really things under the carriage?" Falls asked quickly, "What is it?"
"It’s..." Pete swallowed hard.
Just then, Ralph, the red-haired soldier, clambered out, his body trembling slightly, holding a mechanical crossbow made of fine iron, already loaded with arrows. The tips of the arrows glinted with a dark luster, and upon close inspection, faint runes were visible—magic runes.
"Captain, it’s... weapons," Ralph trembled as he spoke, "There are lots hidden under the carriage, some specifically designed to deal with wizards and magic knights, contraband among contraband!"
Falls quickly drew his longsword and pointed it towards the man in charge, assuming a combat stance. Then his eyes widened, witnessing blood suddenly gush forth, drenching his vision, as Ralph and Pete’s heads violently burst after having just emerged from under the carriage.
Not far away, Richard, waiting in the crowd to enter the city, raised an eyebrow at the scene, mouthing silently: "Wizard—"